The story revolves around Kate (Emily Blunt), an idealistic FBI agent who volunteers for a not so idealistic operation to take down a known drug cartel.We follow Kate and the two men responsible for carrying out the operation, Agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), and the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), as they go across the border to carry out their mission, abiding to no law whatsoever.

The film is written by Mark Shreidan and shot by the great Roger Deakins, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and No Country for Old Men (2007), who showcases his talent using absolutely stunning landscape shots and a whole lot of bird’s eye view camera shots. This is specifically displayed in a scene where we get to follow the shadow of a plane through the desert as it takes off in a rather mesmerizing shot.

The film is carried out by great performances from the entire cast, especially from Benicio Del Toro, who shines as the antihero. The story keeps its audience on the edge of their seats, and the eerie soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson makes even the simplest scene seem chilling. The minimal use of explosives and CGI makes this film easily one of the greatest action movies of the past five years.

In 2005, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi made a short film called “What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires”, a very clever comedy styled in the form of a mockumentary about the real problems of vampires today. It was really good given the almost non-existent budget they had.

In 2014, they remade the film into an elegant feature film, yet they kept the charm and humor of the original. Styled yet again as a mockumentary, the film follows the daily struggles of vampires Viago, Vladislav, and Deacon, all living together in a small house in Wellington, New Zealand. Their fights are pretty much what you would find in any other house. They fight over washing bloody dishes, cleaning the floor of dead bodies, nothing out of the extraordinary really!

Jeamine Clement and Taika Waititi’s witty writing is what really makes this film stand out. From the character of Vladislav the Poker, a hilarious take on the real character of Vlad the Impaler, to the sharp jokes found all throughout the movie, the film maintains a certain level of humor that appeals to any fan of vampire movies. Adding in consideration an incredible soundtrack, this could easily go as one of the best films of the genre so far.

I have wanted to start a movie blog for almost three years now, but I never really felt comfortable doing it till now. There was always this feeling that I am not ready yet, that there’s plenty more to learn about films, but then I thought there’s always going to be plenty to learn about films. It’s the seventh art for crying out loud, so why not start now ?

Here’s to new beginnings and wider perspectives, CinemaScope wide.

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Hello!

Welcome to my blog! You will find mainly short reviews and movie stills here. Take a look for yourself, I’m sure you’ll like it.